Machine for barking railway-ties and the like.



H. L. GALLOWAY & T. W. SOMERVILLE. MACHINE FOR BARKING RAILWAY TIES AND THE LIKE. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 19, 1914.

7,950 Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

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"HE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTOVLITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. C,

H. L. GALLOWAY & T. W. SOMERVILLE. MAGHINE FOR BARKING RAILWAY TIES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEIQ, 1914. L1 $7,985. Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

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A77" TOR/V1575 THE "OTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, o. C.

HOPE LYLE.

GALLOWAY, 0F SOUTHCBOFT, KILMACOLM, AND THOMAS WIG-LEY SOMERVILLE, 0F HILL TOP, ELDERSLIE, SCOTLAND.

MACHINE FOR. BARKING RAILWAY-TIES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentedlfieb. 9, 191%.

Application filed June 19, 1914. Serial No. 846,002.

To all whom it may concern 1 Be it known that we, Horn LYLE GALLO- WAY and THOMAS WIGLEY SOMERVILLE, both subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing, respectively, at Southcroft, Kilmacolm, in the county of Renfrew, Scotland, and Hill Top, Castle Road, Elderslie, in the county of Renfrew, Scotland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Barking Railway- Ties and the like; and we do hereby declare the following to. be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and. to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention has reference to a machine for removing the bark from timbers intended to be employed as ties for railways, and comprises novel features of construction which will be described in the following specification and more particularly set forth in the annexed claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Figure l is an elevation of a machine ac cording to our invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3, which is drawn to a larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2, is a section on the line A A of Fig. 1 and shows the means employed to raise the cutters while allowing them free motion in a horizontal direction. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate diagrammaticallyforward and rearward cutters suitable for use on the machine. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate diagrammatically an alternative arrangement of cutters. Fig. 8 is a cross section of a tie before treatment. Fig. 9 is a cross section of the same after treatment by the first, that is the rearward, pair of cutters. Fig. 10 is a cross section of the same after treatment by the second, that is the forward, pair of cutters.

The frame of the machine comprises a base a (which may be built up of parts) and headstocks b, b, c, 0, there being a forward headstock b and rearward headstock c at each side of the machine. Forward and rearward horizontal shafts d, e are sup ported in bearings in the frame of the machine and are provided respectively with pulleys h, 7:. By means of these pulleys the in Fig. 8.

shafts can be driven by belts from any convenient source of power, or the shafts may be coupled directly to the armature shafts of electric motors. The shafts d, e carry helical wheels at, a; which mesh with helical wheels 12 3 carried by the vertical shafts s, s.

Arms o, o arranged in two opposite pairs are pivoted to the frame of the machine about the axes of the shafts s, s and these arms at their free ends carry bearings m, m for vertical spindles a, n. on which are mounted cutters 0, 0'. The spindles n, at are driven from the shafts s, s by chains w, w inclosed within the arms 1), o; and the cut ters 0, 0 can thus be driven from the shafts d, e. The arms 2:, o can swing horizontally so as to accommodate themselves to the width of the timbers to be barked.

The timbers which are to be treated for the removal of bark are passed horizontally through the machine in the direction indicated by the arrows u, a. The chain line 2 represents a moving chain, moving table, or the like by which the timbers can be moved through the machine; but the timbers may be slid along a stationary table or trough if preferred. It will be obvious that there are many ways of moving the timbers through the machine, and our invention is not confined to any particular method.

As shown in Figs. 1, 4:, and 5, each cutter has a cutting part 2 and a dummv part 3. In the forward cutters 0, 0 the cutting parts are above and the dummy parts below. In the rearward cutters 0', 0 the cutting parts are below and the dummy parts above. The tie, when it enters the machine, is as shown The rearward cutters act first on the tie and remove the bark from the lower portions of the sides, leaving the tie as indicated in Fig. 9. The tie then undergoes treatment by the forward cutters which remove the remainder of the bark, leaving it as shown in Fig. 10. The cutting portions of the forward and rearward cutters overlap a slight amount, and both cutting and dummy portions are concave to suit the shape of the tie. The dummy portions of the cutters act as guides or regulators and determine the horizontal positions of the cutters. The arms 'v, o are pulled inward by the weights 4, 4: which hang from the ropes 5, 5v attached to the arms and passing over the pulleys 6, 6, so that the dummy v on a shaft portions of the cutters are pressed against the opposite sides of the tie. The cutting portions and dummy portions of the cutters may consist of single parts or sections as indicated in Figs. 1, 4, and 5 or may be divided into two or more parts or sections, the cutting parts alternating with the dummy parts. In all cases the cutting parts on the forward cutters are in line with the ummy parts on the rearward cutters and vice versa. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a set of cutters in which the cutting portion 2, 2 of each forward cutter (Fig. 6) is divided into two parts with an intervening undivided ummy portion 3, while the dummy portion 3, 3 of each rearward cutter (Fig. 7) is divided into two parts with an intervening undivided cutting portion 2. The design of the cutters, except as hereinbefore specified, may be as desired, and anv cutter may have any desired number of knives or cutting edges. This device of cutters in series with dummy parts obviates the necessity of having special guides or regulators for automatically adjusting the distance apart of the cutters. The device allows of ties of different widths being satisfactorily barked without waste of timber.

The ties to be treated may, and usually will, vary in depth; and, in order that the bark may be removed without removing more than a minimum of the timber, it is necessary to regulate the height of the cutters according to the depth of the ties. For this purpose pressure members 31 are provided, one for each pair of cutters. Each of these pressure members is flexibly connected to the frame of the machine by means of links 32 and 33. These links with the pressure member constitute a parallel motion whereby the pressure member can rise and fall vertically. The upper link is fulcrumed on a shaft 34, and the lower link 35; and on this lower shaft is keyed an arm 36 which is pivoted to a sleeve 37 which envelops the upper end of a threaded rod 39. The lower end of the rod is pivotally connected to a lever 41 keyed on a shaft 42 which is supported in bearings in the frame of the machine. Each pressure member rests by its own weight (assisted, if necessary, by an additional weight) on the tie which is being barked by the cutters situated below this pressure member, and its function is to raise these cutters in accordance with the variation in height of the ties being barked. Each shaft 42 carries keyed to it two pairs of levers 12, 12, one pair for each cutter. These levers, at the ends remote from the shaft 42, are pivotally connected to the lower ends of links 13. The upper ends of each pair of these links are pivoted to snugs 14 formed on the lower side of a plate 15 which is located below the end of the arm 4) which carries the bearing for the cutter. Each plate 15 is provided with a quadrant slot 16 (see Fig. 3) whose center of curvature is the axis of rotation of the arm 4), and through this slot passes the lower end of the spindle n which carries the cutter and which is provided with a collar 17 and with anti-friction washers 18 situated above the plate 15.

By means of the mechanism just described, the spindle of each cutter will be raised when the pressure member 31 rises and will be lowered when the pressure member falls. Moreover, this mechanism for raising and lowering the cutters does not interfere with the swinging of the cutters in a horizontal plane as before described. The proportions of the levers are, moreover, so arranged that the vertical movement of each pair of cutters is exactly half the vertical movement of the corresponding pressure members. It therefore follows that the vertical movements of the cutters are exactly half the variation in the heights of the ties, and the centers of the cutters are, therefore, in all cases in the center planes of the tie being cut.

It will be obvious that the frame of the machine could, if desired, be differently constructed and the mechanism modified, although adapted to give the same effect. Moreover, it will be evident that a machine could be built and would work with only a single forward cutter and a single rearward cutter, only one side of the tie being barked during a passage through the machine. The tie would then require to be reversed and passed again through the machine or to be passed through another machine to bark the other side. Such a machine would not be so valuable and satisfactory as a machine with two pairs of cutters.

aving thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is machine comprising in combination, a frame, a forward pair of arms pivoted to said frame and adapted to swing in a horizontal plane to and from each other, a rearward pair of arms pivoted to said frame and adapted to swing in a horizontal plane to and from each other, a cutter carried by each arm and adapted to rotate about a vertical axis, means for rotating said cutters, means for conveying timber to be treated between said rearward pair of cutters and thereafter between said forward pair of cutters, and means for pressing said cutters against said timber, each cutter comprising a cutting portion and a dummy portion, the cutting portions of the forward cutters being in line with the dummy portions of the rearward cutters and vice versa.

2. A machine comprising in combination a frame, a forward arm pivoted to said frame and adapted to swing in a horizontal plane, a rearward arm pivoted to said frame and adapted to swing in a horizontal plane, a cutter carried by each arm and adapted to rotate about a vertical axis, means for rotating said cutters, means for conveying timber to be treated past said rearward cutter and thereafter past said forward cutter, and means for pressing said cutters against said timber, each cutter comprising a cutting portion and a dummy portion, the cutting portion of the forward cutter being copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the in line with the dummy portion of the rearward cutter and vice versa.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence 15 of two subscribing witnesses.

HOP-E LYLE GALLOWAY- THOMAS WIGLEY SOMERVILLE.

Witnesses: ROBERT MORRISON NEiLsoN, FRED MIDDLETON.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

